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Name: Pamalicious

Comment: Amen!!!!! I also responded to that article in the defense of what Mr Phillips had written. There are some people on this board, both those that comment and write articles, that stoop to name calling and the unrelentless need to "CURSE" someone out. IMO it displays a lack of discipline of oneself and respect. In the movie Malcolm X - Malcolm was talking to Bembry throughout various conversations, he noticed that Bembry did not swear and called him on it --- Bemby replied: I respect myself. A man cuss because he hasn't got the words to say what's on his mind. I believe this could be applied to women as well. I think we could respond and debate in an intelligent manner without the swear words, character and political attacks. I refuse to read another article of one writer on this site, because of the manner in which he expresses himself, and the lack of respect he has for himself.

Name: dcdouglass01

Comment: I disagree with the following comment made by Mr. Phillips in this article: "Government, however, can never be a true source of hope because government is soulless, without feeling and without the capacity for love or compassion." We are a government of men and women. The same government that rejected (for a tenth straight year) an increase in the minimum wage on the federal level, while at the same time voting itself a raise; the same government, headed by two oil men, that had secret meetings with oil companies a few years back and now everyone is paying $3+ for gas; the same government that deems possession of crack cocaine punishable in terms of years while powdered cocaine is punishable in terms of months if at all; the same government that has replaced job training and education for the incarcerated with the 3-strikes-you're-out-and-throw-away-the-key mentality; the same government that responds to bribes by big business---be it in the form of international trips for congressmen, contracts for shell companies set up by their wives or children, or cash money that same said congressmen deposit in their freezers for safe keep---and damns their constituents to eat cake. This is our government today. It is not a machine, like some vending machine where you put in your seventy-five cents, press a button, and out comes your pop. No, it is a government comprised of men and women who can, through their actions, provide hope for those that it governs. And many of our governments---local, state, and federal---can do a much better job than they are presently doing towards instilling hope.

Name: Winn30344

Comment: Excellent post dcdouglass01; excellent; nothing more I can say.

Name: SpelmanRho

Comment: ^5 DCdouglass ! Ditto and AMEN !

Name: JamerDelta

Comment: I was one that took Joeseph to task for that article for as I stated back then and will state again, hope is not a strategy nor is it a plan. He finally acknowledged that in his last paragraph. As for the government piece--c'mon Joe. There is no such thing as 'government' without the people in it just like there's no such thing as 'society' it is the people within it. So, there is a lot the 'government' comprised of the people within can do. I completely believe in personal responsibility, but when you have systems in place that make it harder and sometimes impossible to move past, then yes, the 'gov't' has some responsibility as well. Thank you, dcdouglas for those wonderful points. You said it much better than I could.

Name: blackman

Comment: Right On dcdoug!!!!!!!

Name: SmokeyBones2004

Comment: I think he was talking about ya'll, LOL! Politicians come and go. Businesses rise and fall. Black people - your destiny is in YOUR OWN hands, not the government! A welfare mentality never got anybody anywhere! LOL!

Name: thebaddestchick

Comment: I believe is stating that you cant count on the govt because in the end govt is going to make decisions and not feel bad about it. Hurricane Katrina is a perfect example. Most of the people that are being helped are not being helped throught the government but private orgs and celebrities that care. FEMA unknowingly or not were giving their money away to people that werent even in the hurricane so they could go to the strip clubs and get sex changes. People who were commiting fraud. I agree with Joe. We must take responsibility for ourselves, if we wait on the govt, we will be lost.

Name: JamerDelta

Comment: So, why bother paying taxes then? No one at least I am not saying that you shouldn't have personal responsibility--please read my response. His %*$ertion about this 13 year old child to just sit there and hope is where I have a problem. Hope does nothing without a plan.

Name: Pamalicious

Comment: >>SmokeyBones2004 -- you've hit the nail on the head. Like or not, The American Government, with its flaws, strengths and weaknesses is the BEST government in the world. The statement we make concerning our government is part of our right, where else but in American can you stand and totally speak your mind about the powers that be.....other countries would have your head on a platter, and the rest of your family would probably meet the same doom. We have many opportunities available to us. How many would like to live in Somalia, North Korea, Darfur, Liberia (a country started by former slaves that returned to Africa following the Emancipation) Haiti and such just to name a few. We as people of color, have resources and opportunities available to us in this country that not many others throughout the world have the privilege of. As SmokeyBones2004 stated, the welfare mentality is not going to get it, and unfortunately that is the mind set of many.

Name: domer

Comment: Jamer, Did you actually read the column? at NO time did the writer suggest that the girl just sit there and hope. In fact what he spoke about in the original column and what he says quite plainly in this newest piece is that WE -- you and I...all those with opinions on this site must get up off our bottoms and help our fellow man. It is amazing to me that so many continue to find fault with this writer. DC, Spelman, Black man etc all pounding their fists at Phillips lack of understanding that we should look to the government to solve our problems -- that this 13 year old girl should look to the government rather than look to good people like you who will volunteer to take a personal interest in her, who will see her as a human being as opposed to a statistic, who will (as the writer says) offer her hope in the form of your human hands that will grasp hers and give her a hand up. If after this you still don't get it it is only because you simply don't want to.

Name: Kofi

Comment: DC pretty much articulated a prgressive point of view. The job of govt is to provide things and services that no one person or group could afford ie. freeways, police, fire protection, public education, etc. Pamilious, there are better countries by every measure such as healthcare, education, housing, ect. Look at some of the western European countries such as Demark and the Netherlands. The gov't can and should have a greater role. The new deal and GI bill helped to create our present middle class. Since the conservatives talk about a welfare mentality let us eliminate the corporate welfare such as subsidities and huge tax breaks given to big corps, the oil and corporate farms.

Name: domer

Comment: Kofi, the writer is not talking about providing highways! he is talking about doing those things for which government is ill prepared to do. you are quite right, however, that the progressive point of view is that the administrative state can do ALL things better. You site the accomplishments of these other nations, but your measurement is in their ability to dole out government benefits. it is a scewed measure if ever there was one. And clearly if you were to compare apples to apples our system is better, which is why we are the most powerful nation on earth and Denmark and Wwestern Europe look to us for protection and economic stability. But once again that is a digression from the point. It is telling that when an author writes about a 13 year old girl -- an individual -- and what individuals can do for each other progressives ignore such talk and weave tales of what a faceless government can do for the masses. Very interesting.

Name: SpelmanRho

Comment: >Domer: I hear what JCP is saying about individual help, but in ADDITION to that should be the government. I don't personally know any 13 years olds in that predicament. I pay taxes so that social services can help her. I pay taxes so that the GOVERNMENT can give generous grants to the Boys and Girls clubs and other grass roots organizations that can help this young lady and the thousands of children like her. Where as you see that government as some sort of faceless blob entity that exist (I guess in your opinion) for no purpose except to exist I see the government as summarized in the Social Contract as an entity to help protect this weaker elements of society from those who are stronger. The problem I have with Mr. Philips is that he seems to conveniently overlook the fact that policies his party endorses SEVERLY cuts funding to the types of organizations that can offer this young lady not only the hope, but the protection that she so desperately needs. To me this is not a welfare mentality. What's the viable alternative if the government doesn't protect weaker members of society from being exploited or ignored (to their detriment) by society ? Should we have just waited for individuals to bring about the end of slavery ? Surely it was the individuals of the abolitionist movement that brought pressure on the government to end slavery but it was the Emancipation proclamation, civil war, 13th amendment (all enacted by the government) that brought slavery to an end. Throw civil rights in there too. Where would black people be if relied solely on people's good intentions or the government's support ? One is useless without the other. You can't be a Polly Anna and a cynic at the same time. "If after this you still don't get it it is only because you simply don't want to."

Name: xavixavi

Comment: Domer, I believe what JamerDelta was "putting to task" was that JCP only seemed to be depending on hope, and hope alone. Hope that the little girl would be able to pull herself up by her bootstraps. Hope that her fellow man would help her. I believe (if I remember correctly) she was also questioning why the teacher who was talking about the girl didn't help her, or steer her since she seemed to know so much about the girls problems. That last statement alone says it all. JCP was learning about this girl from someone who should have been advocating for her -- there goes hope part II. So why not ask/want/hope the goverment step in? Isn't it part of the govt's job state/local/federal to help it's citizens -- especially those of us who can't help ourselves?

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